Aperture High School
by The.Cherry.Pie.Is.A.Lie
Summary: Chell has been transferred to a new school. She quickly gets new friends and begins to finally feel like she has found her place. But her new best friend Wheatley gets bullied and the school's principal Gladys seems to be hiding something. This place holds more dark secrets than it let's on.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. I just wanted to tell ya'll that yes, Chell's Second Playthrough is still alive. Don't worry. It's just that I lacked a little bit of inspiration to continue. I had tried to keep up with it but it just didn't work out so I decided to take a little pause. I know it's been a while but I've definitely not been not active. I've been busy with writing this small story in the mean time. It's an old one I wrote a pretty long time ago, and back then my writing was not that great. But the ideas and storyline and all for this one was actually pretty okay, I noticed when I just went to read a few of my old stories. So I decided to rewrite this one in the meantime as it wouldn't take too long for me to make and you guys have at least something to read while I'm finishing up my other story.**

 **This story is completely finished now and I'm working on the other one at the moment. Once this one is fully uploaded Chell's Second Playthrough will be uploaded again.**

 **Thank you for your guys' patience.**

* * *

Chell looked up at the building in front of her. The black letters of the school's name were printed on its side, the sun light reflecting off the shimmering logo. The building looked brand new, the white and black design didn't have a little spot on it. It was a new school after all, not much older than a year or two. Aperture High School was the newest product of some vague company no one had ever heard about, with the most advanced teaching systems and technologies for its students. But to the newest member of the school who was now standing on the first step of the short, concrete stairs that led to the heavy front door, it was nothing more than a prison society had chosen to lock her up in.

Chell let a small sigh escape from her lips. It was the end of summer but the sun's heat was still hot enough to burn on her back that was protected by a too large, black backpack which was stuffed with schoolbooks, pens she would lose within a week and notebooks that didn't even have one little messy pencil sketch in them yet. It might not have been such a good idea to show up in black trousers and a summer-shirt that absorbed more heat than it should, but Chell wanted to keep her appearance simple. It wasn't a nice day to get all nicely dressed up for either.

She didn't want to go inside, but she started to feel sweat dripping down her back and she only had five minutes left before classes started. Figuring showing up late on the first day of school wouldn't be a good first impression and would most definitely draw some attention, what Chell rather avoided, she walked up the steps and pulled open the heavy door. As soon as she'd set foot inside she got swallowed in the bustle of people. Most of them were around her age, all of them talking loudly, slamming lockers or running to some destination they were clearly not going to get to in time. It was a situation Chell didn't feel comfortable with, but at least everyone was too busy with themselves that they didn't notice the new student.

The school bell had probably already announced that it was time since the hallways slowly started to drain from people. So Chell tried to follow the somewhat vague directions the little signs where pointing her to, trying to find the classroom she needed to be.

When she finally made it there she was happy to find out that she wasn't the only one who was running late as the teacher was nowhere in sight. Chell carefully walked in, hoping no one would recognize her as the _new one_. All her new classmates had already found themselves a seat, so she had to do it with the leftovers. She was lightly disturbed that the only place left was next to a boy in the back. She rather sat alone, but at least she wasn't up on front. Chell made her way towards the tables. The boy didn't seem to notice her..

''Is this seat available?'' She asked, her voice sounded a little hoarse and out of tone. It was so quiet she doubted the boy had even heard her, but that thought was quickly abandoned when he looked up at her with two bright blue eyes shining behind a pair of glasses.

''Sure.'' The boy said cheerfully.

Chell sat down, quietly dropping her bag to the ground and shoving it under the table with her foot. She had some problems with looking up from the floor with him staring at her like that, but she managed it when curiosity got the better of her as she noticed the piece of paper on the table of the blonde boy. It was a drawing, the starting of a pencil sketch. She couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be.

When Chell made no attempt to find eye contact, the boy decided that he should be the one to start up a conversation. ''I've never seen you here before. Are you new?''

Chell nodded, avoiding any means of speaking up again. That sentence from before was already more than she normally spoke to a stranger. The boy, however, didn't seem to have problems with talking at all. ''It's nice to meet you. I'm Wheatley.''

He hold out his hand for her to shake it. When it was met with nothing but a stare he used his hand to wave around in his messy hair and laugh a little nervously. ''I-It's okay, I can understand if you're a little shy. I mean, big school and all, new people. It's understandable. But maybe just a name? Hm? A name is not too much to ask. I'll have to call you something. So how 'bout that? Just your name, don't need anything more from you.''

His smile fitted perfectly with his cheerful British accent. Chell tried to find her voice again, it was hard enough for her already. ''C-Chell.'' She managed to choke out.

''Chell? Is that your name? I like it, fits you well. It's nice to meet you Chell.''

She gave him a small smile. He was quite the talker, that much she was sure of. But at least he wasn't one of those people who asked her all sorts of questions she'd rather not even think about answering. He had kept his word and held it just with asking her name.

Chell stared at the clock on the other side of the room. The teacher was five minutes late. Wheatley seemed to understand what she was thinking about. ''Yeah, he's always late. No one blames him though, he's a nice bloke. A little stern with the grades, but he's alright. Better than that teacher from math. Seriously, don't talk while he's giving instructions. I'd to learn it the hard way.''

Which didn't surprise her. He talked a lot. Even when the teacher had finally arrived seven minutes late and class had started. Though she couldn't find it in herself to tell him to shut up. He was nice, and his little blunder stories were a lot more interesting than the history of corn, or whatever subject it was they talked about.

Lunch was a little awkward. Chell had lost sight of Wheatley after he had rushed off into the crowd, leaving her all alone. He probably didn't do it on purpose, he didn't seem like the kind of person to do that, but she felt a little bit uncomfortable between so many people she didn't know. The auditorium was too much for her, as everybody seemed to spent their lunch time there, so she decided to stay close to the lockers. There were still a lot of people there but at least she could hear herself think. Chell dropped her bag on the floor, pulled her flatten lunch packet from somewhere between her books and started to eat quietly in the corner. She had a nice view though. It was almost hypnotizing to see all people walk around and talk with each other.

Chell's thoughts got interrupted when two girls suddenly jumped into her vision. ''Hello!''

She started back at them, caught between a heart attack and being baffled at their appearance. The one girl who just talked to her was a little bit shorter than Chell, with slightly curled, brown hair and caramel, brown eyes. The other girl was taller, with black hair that hang over her shoulders and swung in a wave-like manner when she turned. But what stole most attention were her eyes, a shining, deep purple color. It was almost impossible to tell the difference between the pupil and iris except for the little light reflections in it. It almost looked like they gave light of their own. Now that she looked at it, the other girl's eyes had the same effect.

''You are the new one, right? I haven't see you before. What's your name? Where are you from? Do you have any friends yet?'' The girl who had first spoken asked without taking a breath between her sentences.

The girl with the purple eyes stopped her with putting her hand in front of her mouth before giving Chell a calming smile. She must have noticed her distress. ''Hey there. We noticed you in class before. You are new here, right?'' Her voice was calming and she sounded like a very patient person.

Chell slowly nodded, still not completely over the sudden suspire of these two students. ''Well, it's really nice to meet you. I'm Morality and this is Curiosity. What's your name?''

 _Morality? Curiosity?_ Those were…. _Interesting_ names. Chell nearly choked on the piece of bread in her mouth that she had forgotten to swallow when she tried to talk. It got a little giggle out of Curiosity. ''Are you okay? Are you dying? You nearly choked! What were you trying to eat?''

Chell didn't have time to listen to her as she coughed the crumpets out of her windpipe. _Great first impression Chell,_ she thought to herself. The two girls still seemed to wait for an answer so she made sure to sound at least a little bit decent when she spoke. ''Chell. My name is Chell.'' It was one of the few sentences she didn't have so much trouble with.

''Well, it's really nice to meet you Chell.'' Morality said truthfully. ''We're having the same classes for the rest of the day. Do you want to sit with us?''

The question nearly made her choke again, only this time on her own salvia. No one had ever asked her something like that. But she nodded in agreement. The few hours that followed had been nice. Her new friends were funny and didn't really seem to mind her lack of speech. They had even gotten a warning from the teacher when they had a little giggle with each other. Though Chell hadn't seen Wheatley anywhere. Maybe he had different classes, she reasoned.

At the end of the day she stood next to the lockers, waiting for Morality to put away the books she didn't need. ''Some friends and I are going to the mall.'' She said without looking up from what she was doing. ''Do you want to come too?''

''I think I'll pass for now.'' Chell answered, not liking the little stutter in her voice. Morality didn't seem to notice, or at least hadn't made a comment about it, and just nodded.

''That's okay.'' She slammed the locker into its lock and looked up at Chell with a kind smile. ''Maybe next time then?''

Chell smiled a little while she waved her goodbye. It was nice to have some friends. Eventually she left the building as well, walking in a pace most people had trouble keeping up with. She stopped when she passed the small public square that belonged to the school where most people spent their breaks when it was warm enough. It was empty now, except for a small group of boys, a little older than herself. They were laughing and she caught up on a small part of their conversation.

''Come on, talk to us. You were sooo talkative before, in class remember? Why won't you say anything now?''

''He's probably just scared.''

''Hahaha, yeah. Just like last time with PE. Screaming like a little girl.''

Laughter again. Chell frowned. Bullies. She could tell by the way they spoke, their body movements. Poor person who was the victim of their harassment. But even though she felt pity for them, she didn't have the time to come and do something about it. They should just come up for themselves, not waiting for someone to come save them. So Chell ignored it and continued walking like she hadn't seen anything.

''Say hello, moron. Come on, you can do it.''

An all too familiar voice spoke up.''… H-Hello.''

Chell turned around. Wheatley. She huffed, she couldn't let her new friend be treated like that. Especially not with her around. So she walked up to the group, her eyes firmly locked onto the form of Wheatley who stood in the middle of them. ''Idiot!'' One of the older guys laughed and pushed him.

She was just in time to see him sitting on the floor, his glasses on his nose in a weird angle and tears at the edges of his eyes. Chell pushed through the group. They gave her a slightly confused stare, and she stared back. It had some of them quickly breaking eye contact. She grabbed Wheatley's wrist, pulled him out of the circle and walked back the way she'd come. The group stood dumbfounded as they watched them leave.

''And now you also need a girl to come safe you! Moron!'' Chell shot a look over her shoulder that promised pain and most likely death to the person who had said that, though it was hard to tell which one it had been. Ignoring the wobbly walk in Wheatley's step as she kept walking at her regular pace, she eventually let go of him as soon as the group was out of sight. And she walked, without another word, towards the bus-stop.

Wheatley was speechless for a few seconds before coming after her. ''Oi, wait for me!''

Chell stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him.

''Hey…. I wanted to- to thank you. For helping me back there.'' He said a little shyly, ashamed that she had to see that. She probably thought he was weak and a…. a moron. He sighed. ''It's just that, you know, those fellows aren't really nice to me…. I mean guys, those guys aren't really nice.''

Chell raised an eyebrow, a hand on her hip. ''Why are you trying to hide your accent?''

''W-What?''

''You shouldn't try to talk differently just because those idiots are bullying you with it.'' She stated. Even though it was hard for her to say everything smoothly and had to take small pauses between her words every now and then.

Wheatley glanced to the side. ''I know…. You're right. It's just that, I thought you might not like me because of it. I know it's stupid but… Well I don't have that many friends. Not any, actually. And when you came to sit next to me this morning I felt… happy, I guess. You didn't ignore me or, or told me to shut up. It was kind of _nice._ ''

She gave him a smile. Not the half-hearted smile she usually wore, but an actual smile. It seemed to make him feel better, because his goofy grin formed back onto his lips. ''W-we can be friends. If you want to.''

''T-that would be n….. n-n….'' Chell fell silent. Her smile disappeared and her eyes dropped to the ground to stare at the little green tares that grew between the gaps in the concrete tiles.

''Do you mean _nice?_ Or, or was it something else?''

She shook her head. Wheatley noticed her sudden sadness, not really knowing what to do, he just said the first ting to came to mind. ''Oi, that means we're friends now, right?'' But this didn't seem to lighten her mood, even though she gave a small nod. ''Hey, what's wrong? Is this because you have trouble speaking?''

How did he guess things so fast? She slowly nodded in response, ashamed of herself. Everyone thought she was weird because she didn't talk a lot, or didn't talk at all. They had called her a mute, made fun of her. And she had fought back. But then _she_ had been the one to get kicked out of school. Chell sighed at the memory, it was something she'd rather forget.

But Wheatley wasn't one of those people. In fact, he didn't mind at all. ''That's alright. I can understand… Well actually I don't. No idea what causes you to, to not talk. But I don't need to know, of course. Might be something personal. You don't have to tell me. You know what, you don't have to talk to me _at all_. It's fine, completely fine with me. I mean, I talk too much so, I'll talk for the both of us. We'll just find another way of communication for you, like hand gestures, nodding, maybe writing. How does that sound?''

Chell finally looked up to him, a rare smile on her features. She gave a single nod in agreement and Wheatley clapped his hands together in success. ''See, didn't even have to say I word. Understood you perfectly there… I think. But we'll figure it out, Luv.''

A nod again with a small giggle. Did he just call her _Love?_ ''You'll have to hurry up, otherwise you'll miss your bus.''

Chell turned around and noticed the vehicle stopping in front of the bus stop. She waved Wheatley goodbye and stepped inside, taking a seat next to the window. The ride home was calming as she looked outside, watching as houses and trees and beautiful landscapes passed by. It took up to twenty minutes before she got home. It was a long way to school from her house in the tiny village in the middle of nowhere. It was too far to go on bike, so she had to take the bus every morning. Not that she minded, the only thing she didn't like was having to get out of bed so early.

She stepped out and walked up the front porch of her house. She pushed the door open, immediately getting embraced in the warm and safety of her house. Chell put her heavy bag on the wooden table in the middle of the room. The living room was the biggest one in the house, but was still really small. It had a couch in front of an television that hadn't been used in ages as it didn't work properly, in the middle of the room stood the table, pressed with one side against the opposite wall. It had four matching chairs around it, but only two of them got used. A small bouquet of flowers stood on the table top, giving the place a little more life.

The clinking of high heels came from the kitchen. Chell looked up at her mother who entered the room. Caroline was rather tall with the high heels she always wore, dressed in a nice white dress, her dark brown hair falling over her shoulders. She looked a little older than she was, according to her it was from all the hard days of work she had been through in the past. But her eyes were soft, filled with warmth and love. It was Chell's favorite thing about her mother.

''It's good to have you home.'' She said, drawing her quiet daughter in for a hug. ''How did your first day of school go?''

''Fine… I guess.'' Chell answered dryly as she squirmed out of the embrace and picked her backpack up again. Caroline was more than used to the little hoarse and out of tone voice of her daughter, her mother was the only person she really dared to talk to, after all. But still her answers were minimum. Chell started to make her way to the staircase to go up to her room and do her homework when Caroline stopped her.

''You promise me this year will go without problems, right?''

Chell thought about it for a second. Not wanting to deal with any of it right now she simply just nodded. ''Promise.'' And went up stairs, but her stomach twisted a little. Now she had made a promise she wasn't sure she could keep.


	2. Chapter 2

**7 days later**

The first day of the following week had been a complete disaster. The first two classes had been fine, Chell had absolutely no problem with a double hour of math, much to the disagreement of her fellow classmates. It was the hours afterwards that everything went wrong.

They had a test of Spanish. Chell had studied, that wasn't the problem. She just didn't see the need for learning different languages as she barely managed to make correct English words. The test would've been fine, she would've gotten a good grade if they just had to write it on paper. But no, it had be an _oral_ test.

Chell sat quietly, trying to come up with a solution to get herself out of this mess. But much to her discomfort, it had been her turn quickly. All students turned around on their seats, looking at the awfully quiet Chell in the back who refused to say a word. Everyone had been staring at her, whispers getting distributed from person to person. It didn't take long for the teacher to decide to sent her out.

She had ignored all of it and let herself out the door. And so she spent the rest of that hour in the hall, staring through the window and watching as the others passed their test just fine. Maybe it had gone differently if Wheatley had been there, but he didn't follow the same classes as her. They had met later that day, but Chell didn't tell him about what happened. She was embarrassed and didn't want her friend to think weird of her. Though Wheatley would never come up with any thoughts like that. She knew, but she still didn't want to tell him. Instead she let him talk to her all day, listening intrigued, most of the time, to what he had to say.

What made her worry though was that he fell awfully silent when he found out they had PE next. Chell had tried to comfort him, telling him it would be alright as long as she was there with him. She felt horrible for not being able to keep her word.

Chell herself was quite the athletic. She jumped and run around without getting tired fast. She loved sports as it was a hobby where she didn't need to talk. Her determination and great condition causing her to always score and win almost every game they played, much to the satisfaction of the teacher and the teams she got selected in.

Wheatley, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of her. He was always the spare player who never had to swap. The one who always got chosen last as the teams were made. But he was lucky, for once, that he had Chell. She somehow managed to convince her teammates to get him in their team, how she did it without words he'll never know, but he was more than happy with it. He was verily useless though, having no idea what to do and how to play. Chell was a person who hated losing and was always going for the best options to make sure they won, but she tossed the ball over to Wheatley some times, giving him a change as well. He hated it how he screwed up all of them.

He wanted to show her he could do it. That he was useful and anything but a moron. He was determined so.

But why had to be his last chance to prove it be with climbing ropes?

Wheatley watched as it was Chell's turn. She walked up to the thick rope that hang from the ceiling, she climbed up without fear or wobbly legs or shaking arms what would cause her to fall. She made it to the top without much trouble, touching the ceiling with her fingertips to prove so. A few people clapped and cheered for her as the student carefully climbed down again.

Wheatley snorted. He could do it, he had to. He had to prove he was strong too and not a weak moron like everyone saw him as. He took a deep breath, puffing his chest up like a penguin. _He could do it. Everyone could. It's not that hard. He could do it!_

He stepped forward. Looking up, the rope suddenly seemed much longer. But he swallowed away his fear and grabbed a hold on the rope. He pulled himself up, feet clamping around it. But no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get himself higher. He lost his balance and fell on his butt on the floor. A few people chuckled, whispering mockingly to each other which made a few of them hold their breaths trying not to laugh.

Wheatley looked up at Chell. She was talking, or rather just listening, to a few other girls. She didn't even see him. He looked back up again. If he could just do it, if only he could just make it up to the top, maybe then she would notice him. Everybody would, they would see he wasn't a moron and maybe they wouldn't bully him anymore. Wheatley frowned in determination and stood up again.

He grabbed the rope, swinging his feet around it and pulled himself up. Feet, pull, feet, pull, feet, pull. _He was doing it! He was actually doing it!_ _He was closer to the ceiling now! He was almost there_! But when he looked down to see if Chell was watching him, everything failed. The ground was suddenly really, _really_ far down. Wheatley felt his grip weaken and before he knew what was happening he lied on his back, a dizzy feeling in his head.

A few people gasped before starting to giggle. Chell looked up and noticed Wheatley lying on the floor. Shocked, she rushed towards him.

''Ow.'' He groaned painfully. She stared at the rope, luckily he hadn't gotten higher than just 9 feet before he had fallen to the ground. Chell reached out her hand to help him up.

Wheatley rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head and stared at the gesture. He then noticed the looks he was receiving from the others. ''I can stand up myself.'' He huffed and pushed himself up, though his legs were shaking. He ignored it and pushed through the crowd of people towards the dressing rooms.

Chell watched him leave. She was slightly confused as to why he reacted like that, it was unlike him. It didn't take long before she entered the room with a wetted towel in her hands to see Wheatley sitting on a bench. He looked up at her as she threw the soaked cloth into his face.

''Thanks…'' He murmured as he pressed it against his head. Chell took a seat next to him. They were quiet for the longest time before she pulled his bag from somewhere on the floor and pulled out a small notebook and a pen.

She scribbled on it and handed it over to him. _What happened?_

He looked away from her. ''Nothing… Nothing bad. Just hurt myself. A little injury. That happens a lot right, people getting injured with sports? It, it's normal. Nothing to be concerned about.''

She shoved another piece of ripped off paper into his hand. _Friends don't lie._

Wheatley sighed. Friends really were honest with each other all the time, weren't they? At least they were supposed to do so, otherwise they weren't real friends. And he and Chell were real friends so he should tell her the truth too. ''I just… I just wanted to _prove it._ Prove that I could do all those things you did too. I saw you do all of that without a problem, no fear, nothing! I guess I-I just wanted to be like you, with climbing the rope. Not that great of an idea, I realize that now. But I just wanted to-to show you that I could do it. That there was something I was good at.''

 _You're good at drawing._

He looked up at her in surprise. ''You think so?''

Chell nodded. ''Yes.''

Wheatley's smile came back, his eyes twinkling with pride. He didn't think anyone had ever said something like that to him. She even thought he was good at it! She had _said_ it! ''Thank you.'' He finally answered, slightly blushing.

At the end of the day, after seven tiring hours, Chell decided to spent a little longer with her new friends. Morality and Curiosity were walking with her through the hall's, explaining everything they knew about the school. The quiet student didn't care so much, as she didn't think there was anything special about a school, but it was nice to go for a little walk with the two.

The three of them eventually sat down somewhere near the lockers. They were just talking about some random things while Chell searched around in her bag. She eventually handed Morality a small note.

 _I forgot my history books. Be right back._

The girls, who were all but used to Chell's silence by now, just nodded and waited for her return. Chell passed a few empty classrooms before she found the right one. Luckily the door hadn't been locked yet and her books were lying neatly on a table. Someone must have left them there for her. She quickly stuffed them somewhere between her other books and rushed back to her friends.

She nearly bumped into someone when she rounded the corner. Chell looked up, only to lock gazes with two glowing eyes that almost looked yellow. She took a small step back from the woman. She looked young, somewhere in her early twenties. She had short, white hair that seemed to be perfectly brushed and styled. Not one hair was out of place. Her golden eyes were stern and stared into Chell's very soul. It fitted perfectly with her posture; tall, elegant and intimidating.

''S-sorry.'' Chell quickly apologized.

The woman rolled her eyes in annoyance and walked past the student. Chell watched as she walked down the hall. Shaking off the shivers that were creeping through her, she made her way back to her friends. The girls, who had seen everything happen, gave her a somewhat worried look.

''Are you alright?'' Morality asked a little worried.

Chell just shrugged. Why were they so dramatic about this? She pulled her notebook from her bag and started to write. _Who was that woman?_

''That's Gladys. The school's principal.''

''She's really mean.'' Curiosity added with the most innocent tone like a little child.

Morality nodded in agreement. ''It's a wonder she didn't let you stay after school for the next month for just looking at her like that. Seriously, you don't want to get in trouble and get send to her office.''

Don't get in trouble with the principal. She should probably try to remember that. Even though Chell usually didn't care and did whatever she wanted despite the rules anyways, but this woman didn't seem like your average stern principal either. It was better to just avoid any problems for now. The school bell sounded once more and the hallways started to fill up with the unlucky people who had classes until the eight hour. Time seemed to go faster than they'd thought.

''We should probably go… um home.'' Morality announced. Chell agreed and followed the two towards the school's exit. They stopped though when they passed a hallway with a small group of boys at the end.

They were the same guys from last time. Chell frowned, she swore if they were bullying Wheatley again she would-

''Poor guy.'' Morality said, shaking her head in disbelief. ''He always gets teased by those idiots. But it we probably shouldn't interrupt before they- hey Chell where are you going?'' She asked as Chell walked up to the group.

Wheatley was pressed against the wall by an older guy, his eyes were swollen with tears and his shaking body gave away his fear. He looked up with slight relief when Chell came into view though. The older boy followed his gaze and noticed the student behind them.

''What are you looking at.'' He growled irritated. When Chell didn't move he fully turned around, walking up to her. ''Well what do you want? Are you coming to save your little boyfriend again?''

The people around them chuckled. The older boy walked closer, trying to be intimidating and pushed her so she had do a step back as not to lose her balance. Chell didn't say anything and just stared back at him.

''Why ain't you talking little girl? Are you mute?'' He gave her another push against her shoulders what caused her to have to take another step backwards. ''If I were you I would just mind my own business and leave before-''

She slapped him. The boy chuckled a little, a grimace forming onto his features. ''Listen _mute._ I usually don't like hitting girls, but I can make an exception for you. You can still turn around, or do you think a little mute like you could do something about it?''

''She's not a mute!'' Wheatley protested. Though the little stutter in his voice made it hard for him to prove his point.

''Shut up, moron.'' The older boy snapped.

That was enough insulting for now. Chell pushed him against the wall, much like he had done with Wheatley. But he wasn't that easily defeated. He grabbed a hand full of her hair, forced her to turn around and pulled her against his chest. He grabbed her wrists and crossed her arms, keeping her in a lock.

''What you gonna do little mute?'' Chell ignored him and stomped on his foot. He gave a yelp and she quickly got out of his grip. But before she could turn around to give him another slap across the face, he hit her legs from behind, sending her tumbling to the floor. Chell's head hit the ground and she felt her teeth biting in her lower lip. Metal tasting liquid dripped onto her tongue and nausea started to wash over her from where she'd hit the ground.

The bystanders formed a circle around the two and they began to scream excitedly. ''Fight! Fight! Fight!''

The guy jumped on top of her and held her arms against the ground. Chell struggled and fought, but her legs couldn't reach him and her arms were firmly pinned to the ground. He leaned a little closer to her and she immediately took advance of it by giving him a head-butt.

He reached for the sore spot on his face, giving Chell just enough time to kick him of her and jump onto his chest instead, burying her knees into his ribs so he couldn't get out of her grip. Now it was her turn. She slapped him in the face, and again, and again, and again. His nose started to bleed but she ignored it and kept hitting him.

''She's going to kill him!'' Someone screamed.

*Slap* for bullying Wheatley. *Slap* for calling her a mute. *Slap* for hitting her and *slap* for-

''What is going on here?'' A calm voice asked and everybody fell silent. The cheering died down as the crowd moved aside to make place for the principal. Gladys. She looked at Chell, then at the boy and back at her again.

''Oh, it's you again.'' She sounded mildly amused. Chell met her gaze and didn't look away again, even though those eyes were now glaring at her. ''Get up you lunatic. I think we need to have a little _talk_ in my office.''

But Chell didn't move and shot a stubborn look back at her. Gladys frowned, how dared that little human to deny her demands. She grabbed the student by her arm, who was a little shocked by her sudden movement, and pulled her of the floor.

''I said walk.'' Gladys hissed. She started to walk towards her office, dragging Chell along with her. The girl didn't try to fight her. She looked behind them instead, smiling triumphantly when she saw the guy she had just fought slowly standing up, a hand in front of his bleeding nose. Chell noticed her friends, including Wheatley, standing further away and her smile disappeared. They looked worried. Was she really in _that_ much trouble?

Chell stumbled clumsily behind the white-haired woman. She was walking in a constant pace, tightly holding onto the misbehaving student. Her arm was going to be bruised at the end of the day with that strong grip that dragged her along firmly. A few people stared after them when they walked past, whispering confused to their classmates why Chell was getting pulled along by the principal like a stubborn puppy that tried to run away every five seconds.

Gladys' office was at the back of the school and they had almost passed every, single classroom window for everyone to see what was happening before they finally came there. She pushed Chell inside, immediately closing the door behind them.

''Sit down.'' She said sternly. Chell decided it was better to do as instructed and sat down on an uncomfortable chair. The windows were covered by curtains, hulling the office in darkness. The only source of light came from a computer screen on the desk. Chell watched silently as the principal took a seat on the opposite side of the desk, folding her hands together in a professional manner. They stared at each other, neither of them breaking eye contact any time soon. It was like they were trying to read each other, figuring out what the other was thinking. Gladys was actually really pretty, Chell noticed. Everything about her just looked _perfect_. Chell would've actually cared if those golden eyes weren't trying to stare into her soul.

Eventually Gladys looked away, focusing her attention on the computer beside her. Chell shuffled about nervously, carefully liking the blood away that was still dripping out of her lips. Gladys looked at the student again, noticing her broken lip and slowly pushed a small box of tissues towards her. Chell carefully took one from it and held it against the open wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She watched as Gladys went back to her computer, typing something on the keyboard. After she found what she'd been looking for, she leaned against the back of the chair.

''One week.'' Gladys sighed. ''You've only be assigned to this school for one week and you're already making murder attempts on the others. It's not like I couldn't have seen that coming.'' Chell arched an eyebrow. What the hell did she mean with that? ''It says it right here in your file. _Got kicked off five schools because of_ _ **aggressive behavior**_.''

A smirk touched her face which Chell found very uncomfortable. ''Hm, I like that in a person.'' Gladys mumbled. She glanced at the awfully quiet student for a moment, hoping to see some sort of reaction.

There was none.

''So what was it? What caused your little primate brain to lose control like that? Hunger? Fear? Or Self defense? Were you getting bullied?'' Her voice sounded fakely sweet, like she was some kind of therapist who was trying to ask something from a three year old. Chell nibbled at her lower lip, opening the wound again and tasting the blood that dripped into her mouth. ''Problems at home? Depression? Some mixture of emotions? Or are you just really a cruel monster trying to murder people?''

Chell frowned, shaking her head rapidly. What was she on about? Gladys leaned on the desk, her head resting in the palm of her hand. She stared at her again, studying her in almost a dreamily way. ''You really are a mystery, aren't you? You dangerous, mute, pathetic, murderous little lunatic.''

Chell swallowed, trying to find her voice. ''I'mmm n-n-not a mu-mute.''

''Oh look at that, it can talk. I was almost worrying you were suffering from brain damage. You're full of surprises.'' She sat up right, finally dropping the game of sarcasm. ''Now that we know that, I expect an explanation for your behavior.''

Of course, Chell could've told her the truth. She could've explained that she was just protecting her friend, that it was indeed self defense, in a way. But why would she? It wasn't like it would make a difference. In all those years and five different school's Chell had been through, no one had tried to help. Especially not the principals. And it didn't look like Gladys would be any different, probably even worse. Definitely worse, she had been insulting the girl a few moments ago! She was not going to be any help for Wheatley and Chell was not going to trust her either.

So she just stubbornly shrugged in response. Gladys didn't seem one bit pleased with that.

''Very well then. I suppose I'll have to speak to your parents about this instead.'' She wasn't particularly happy with that. She highly disliked talking to parents. ''I expect both you and one of your parents at my office tomorrow at four pm. Now leave, I have more important business to deal with.''

Chell's eyes winded. Caroline was going to be furious. ''You can't be serious.'' She suddenly spoke up in protest. ''I was just-''

But Gladys held up a finger, shutting her up. ''Hush, you lunatic. I don't care what you have to say, you're too late. Now get out.''

The student pursued her lips. No, she couldn't just- she was- _why?_ She abruptly stood up, giving the chair a kick from behind so she could squirm from between it and the table. ''Don't slam the door behind you.'' Gladys called after her as she left the room.

Chell slammed the door shut as hard as she could.

* * *

 **I'm sorry it takes so long for me to update guys. It's just so I can save extra time for when I'm going to need it. Anyways, besides all this upoading, writers block and other stuff every writer understands, this is one of my favourite chapters. Idk why, maybe I'm the llunatic here who enjoys agressive behaviours by characters. Maybe because GLaDOS (or Gladys whatever you prefer in this story) is in this one. I just love her role in this story. Also Wheatley building up courage to imperss Chell and failing is soooo fun to write... I'm a horrible person. I'm aware, thank you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey ya'll. I know, I know. It's been too long since the last update. I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways. Also you can follow me on instgram, Portal_Fangirl. I post 2 pictures every day and you will get little sneak peeks and updates on my stories. (I also hope it will show that I'm anything but inactive and that I'm doing a lot of work in the background.) Anyways go follow me if you like. I don't have an account on any other forums though. I've tried but it was too much work to keep up with. If you want to contact me to ask questions and what not you can go to my instagram account. You can also send me a private message here if you want, of course.**

 **Anyways, enough holding you up.**

* * *

145….. 146….. 147

Yep, there were indeed 147 tiles in the ceiling. Chell sighed as she stared upwards, slouching in the chair in front of the principal's office. She had been counting for the third time now. She was verily sure her conclusion was correct.

Chell looked up at the sound of footsteps. ''Oi, are you alright Luv?''

She smiled weakly at Wheatley. He took a seat next to her and stared at the closed door wearily before turning back to her. ''I'm sorry. For getting you in trouble. It should've been me sitting here, not you.''

Chell just waved her hand frankly, like it was no big deal.

He relieved a little sigh. Luckily she was not mad at him. ''What about your mother? Was she angry at you?''

She worried at her lower lip again. It was raw red from where she had nibbled the skin off of it last night in bed while she had been thinking about yesterday's events. Caroline hadn't been angry at her, much to Chell's surprise. It was probably because she had genuinely told her the truth about what happened, that she has just been trying to help. Of course she'd gotten the regular parent-speech about violence never been the right option, but Chell decided to just deal with it. Her mother had forgiven her and that relief had made up for everything that came after. Even this.

Though now that she was here waiting in front of the principal's office, that memory didn't give her the same encouraging feeling like it had yesterday.

Chell just shook her head in response. _I don't want to think about it._

Wheatley could understand and decided to abandon the subject. After a few moments of silence he opened his bag and took out a folder. Chell followed his movements curiously until he handed her a piece of paper. She took it from him and studied it. It was a drawing of her, standing with one foot triumphantly on the chest of the guy who she had fought yesterday. There were some other people around them who cheered for her like she was some kind of superhero.

She looked up at Wheatley in surprise and he gave a nervous laugh. ''I thought you might like it.''

''It's beautiful.'' Chell mused.

It made him blush and he carefully put the drawing back into the folder. ''Thank you.''

Chell held up her hand, encouraging him to show her the rest. He hesitated a little before shyly handing her the folder. She took the drawings out carefully, studying them one by one. There was a drawing of an apple tree, a flying crow, a big field of wheat and one of the moon which was surrounded by hundreds of stars. There was even one of the two of them together in class when they'd first met. Chell noticed he must have put a lot of work in that one as it was very detailed.

She smiled at him, indicating that she loved the drawings.

The nice moment they shared quickly came to an end when Caroline arrived. She looked a bit tired, knowing she was going to have an unpleasant talk, but she put on a warming smile anyways when she walked up to them.

Wheatley shook her hand politely and introduced himself. ''Hello, I'm Wheatley.''

''I'm Caroline, Chell's mother. It's nice to meet you.'''

Chell didn't look up. She didn't want to see the look her mother was giving her. ''I should go.'' Wheatley announced. ''See you tomorrow…''

But Chell didn't wave him goodbye.

Caroline looked down at her daughter who didn't dare to look her in the eyes. She carefully took a seat next to her. ''I'm not angry at you.'' She tried to sooth. ''We'll figure this out. It's going to be okay.''

She reached out to brush a lock of Chell's hair behind her ear in what she hoped would be a comforting manner but the girl turned away from her. Chell hadn't count the little spots on the floor's design yet and decided that would be a good thing to keep herself occupied with for now. Caroline eventually gave up on trying to get her daughter to talk to her and sat back in her seat.

It had been a few long minutes of Chell counting spots while she nervously shuffled with her feet before the door next to them opened. Gladys came through and looked down at the two. ''Caroline?''

Chell looked up in confusion and watched as her mother stood up, a look of surprise on her features. ''GLaDOS? What are you doing here?''

 _Hold on, they knew each other?_

Gladys smiled somewhat nervously, something Chell had never seen her do before. ''Well, I'm the head of the school, actually.'' She answered as she tried to smoothen out her clothes unnoticeably.

She then looked down at Chell. ''Oh, so she's _your_ daughter then. I should've noticed.''

Chell gave an angered look at the comment, but her mother didn't even seem to notice. Hadn't she heard the sarcastic tone in the principal's voice? Gladys quickly reached for the door handle to let the two into her office, but she grabbed miss three times before finally succeeding to do so. What was she so excitedly nervous about? It was just her mother, right?

Chell got up to enter too but Gladys closed the door halfway. ''You know what, it is all fine. You can just go and do whatever it is you little humans do. I'll just have a talk with… _your mother._ Alright?''

And before the student could protest she completely shut the door on her. Chell snorted, lightly irritated with the situation. But she turned around and left before Gladys would change her mind and dragged her into the conversation anyway. Chell walked down the concrete steps by the school's front door and noticed Wheatley in the distance. Not wanting to shout for him, as her voice would most likely waver and not even make it to his hearing-distance, she run up to him.

Wheatley jumped a little when she nearly bumped into him. ''Hey, what are you doing here?''

Chell shrugged her shoulders with a small gesture of her hand. _I don't even know._

Wheatley didn't seem to get her completely but just acted like he did. ''Oh, well, I guess I could stay a little longer then. If you'd like.''

She smiled. _Yes, please._

So they walked back around the school, taking a seat on one of the wooden benches on the school's little public square. Chell looked up at the sky above them. It was bright blue, almost the same colour as Wheatley's eyes, she noticed. There were only small groups of fluffy clouds splattered along the blue background. Like an artist had accidently dropped white paint onto their art. But it made it even more beautiful.

Chell closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the moment of peace. Wheatley looked at her. At the way her hair waved a little bit in the wind, how her eyes looked dreamily into the sky, how she seemed so _relaxed_ for once. He looked back at a window which was closed off by curtains. It was the principal's office and only the unlucky people who had to go in there knew what it looked like. She always had the curtains closed.

''So your mom is talking to Gladys right now?'' Wheatley asked, trying to fill in the silence more than anything. Chell followed his gaze and noticed the office. She nodded and handed him her notebook.

 _Apparently they know each other._

Wheatley looked up at her in question and then noticed the somewhat suspicious look on Chell's face. She stared intensively at the window, like she was keeping a sharp eye on everything that was happening inside. Though Wheatley was verily sure she couldn't look through walls.

''You mean… your mom knows her?''

Chell nodded firmly. _And she had called her Glados_ , _instead of Gladys._

Wheatley stared down at the quickly scribbled letters. ''That's…. Odd indeed.''

Chell snorted like a wild animal who just lost their prey out of sight. She turned back and stared in front of her with an unreadable look plastered on her features. Wheatley sat nervously, not liking the silence one bit. Then he had an idea. He searched around in is bag and eventually pulled out a small plastic box. This would lighten her mood!

''Here.'' He shoved it under the girl's nose. She stared down at it and noticed a perfectly cut piece of chocolate cake sitting inside. Chell looked up at him in wonder and Wheatley just smiled sheepishly. ''I-I had this over from lunch. Wasn't really that hungry… Do you want it?''

She smiled. So his plan had worked perfectly! Wheatley smiled back proudly. He looked around for a fork but then noticed he didn't have one. ''Do you- do you mind eating with your hands. Because I, I kind forgot the-''

Chell quickly took a piece between two fingers and put it in her mouth. Now they were all sticky from the melted chocolate and whipped cream but she didn't mind and just licked it off. They returned smiles to one another again before eating together. Chell didn't seem to notice the sudden silence from Wheatley, food seemed to distract her quite a bit, until he spoke up.

''Chell?'' She looked up at him, licking the last bits of cake crumbles and chocolate frosting of her fingers. ''There is….. There is something I need to tell you.''

Wheatley didn't dare to look at her, so he just concentrated on his feet instead. ''But it's personal. Sort off…. I-I mean, it's a secret. A secret I'm not allowed to tell anyone, well, that's why it's a secret of course. But I… I just kind of… Need to tell someone. Anyone, it doesn't matter but, I prefer you, if you don't mind. Because you are my friend and I can trust you. So that's why I want to tell you something. And it's very, very secret. Do you… Get what I'm saying?''

He glanced up to see her reaction but immediately went back on looking at his feet when he saw the somewhat worried look in her eyes. ''Can you promise me something? Could you… could you promise me that, whatever it is I'm going to tell you, that you won't be mad at me? And that you won't think different of me? Because I like being your friend, I really do! And I don't want _this_ to short of… um, ruin our friendship.''

''Promise.''

Wheatley smiled a little. ''Okay then. I-I should probably tell it to you now. B-but I don't really know how to so, so I'm just going to say it.'' He took a pause, looked into her eyes even though he felt really uncomfortable doing so. ''I'm….. not like you.''

Chell's concerned expression slowly changed into a mixture of confusion and even more concern.

''Yeah that, that doesn't explain a whole lot, now does it?'' Wheatley shifted nervously, trying to think of the right words to use. How could he ever explain it to her? ''You live in a house, right? With your family?''

She nodded carefully, not understanding where he was going with this.

''Well, I don't. I don't have parents. And not because I lost them or anything, I just don't have them. And I don't live in a nice little house either. I highly doubt it's even close to that. It's more like a facility. A….. A science facility.''

Why would he live in a science facility? Chell was considering that he was just joking, but the uncomfortable pauses and the look in his eyes told her that wasn't the case. He didn't continue so she asked him. ''Why?''

''Because…..'' He gulped, clamping his fingers together in an attempt to calm himself down. ''Because….. I'm a…''

Wheatley sighed. '' _I'm not human.''_

He had said it so quietly he was starting to wonder if Chell had even heard him. He dared to carefully peek sideways, only to lock gazes with eyes which were winded with shock and confusion. He had really screwed this up hadn't he? ''I-I can understand if you don't believe me. I wouldn't be able to believe it either, if you had been the one telling me but… but it's true. I probably shouldn't have told you. If you don't like me anymore now, I can understand, if you… if you hate me because I'm not really-''

Chell quickly grabbed his wrist to get his attention and shook her head rapidly. He stopped for a second and looked up at her. She quickly ripped off a piece of paper and scribbled on it. _I don't hate you. Otherwise I would be breaking my promise._

That made Wheatley smile a little bit sadly. ''So… So we are still friends then, right?''

She nodded. _Of course we are. But you need to explain more to me. Calmly._

He sighed in relief. At least he'd gotten that part off of his chest. Wheatley wasn't sure how to explain the rest to her, but at least he knew that whatever he was going to tell her, she was not going to get mad at him. That was very reassuring.

''The company that…. That made me is called Aperture. Aperture Science. And they kind of, they make like, like very science-y stuff and all. I don't know, didn't really understand it. But the point is, they made Artificial Intelligence. And I'm… I'm one of them, I suppose. They also made this school, as an experiment of some sort. They wanted to know how we would react in _normal human_ situations, like a high school for example. So they send me and some others to go to school here, like normal humans.''

 _You mean there are more AI's on this school?_ Chell carefully handed him the paper, not really wanting to interrupt his story, but she was too curious to let this question go.

''Yeah. Some of our classmates as well. I don't really know all of them, there are probably more than you would expect.'' He admitted quietly. ''When I first came here I really didn't like this place. Of course there were actual humans too, and that was a little frightening at first, to walk along with them and none of them realizing you weren't a- a human like them. I was afraid someone would find out and who knows what would happen then. Luckily it had never happened. But still that didn't make any of this any better…. Let's just say that, that I'm not so good at all this _school stuff_. I hated it here.''

Wheatley paused, like he had to think about what to say next. ''But then…. Then _you_ came here. And you came to sit next to me! I had been quite nervous, gotta be honest. But you weren't like the others, you listened to me and didn't tell me to shut up. And you didn't get annoyed by me every time I did something wrong. Well , maybe you did a little bit, but at least you weren't mean about it. And then you also came to help me the other day. I never thought that a human would ever like me. Or that it would feel so good to have a friend, someone you can rely on and just, just someone you can trust. I was so happy when we, when we finally became friends.''

Chell waited patiently for him to continue, but he didn't. He just stared down at his hands, wriggling his thumbs. She tried to comfort him the best she could. ''Those people from Aperture, the scientists, they forbid us to tell anyone about Aperture or the Project or us not being human. But you're my friend, and you told me that, that friends never lied to each other. And I figured that holding back a secret like this would count as lying too, in a way. So I really wanted to tell you for a long time but…. but I was _afraid_. I thought that you would hate me, or that you would tell someone. But I just, I needed to tell you. Get it out off my chest, you know? And I'm glad I did but, but still. I want to say sorry for not telling you earlier.''

 _It's alright. I forgive you._ Wheatley stared at the paper in his hands. Then he looked up at Chell who smiled reassuringly. She leaned forward for a hug (only to comfort him, of course). Wheatley sat completely silent as she wrapped her arms around him. So this is what it felt like. A hug. No one had ever hugged him before, but he wouldn't have thought it would feel so nice… And warm. He quickly put off his glasses and wiped the tears away that had formed at the edges of his eyes. He didn't really feel like crying again, he wasn't even sad, but for some reason they had come anyways. When he put on his glasses again he noticed the funny looks he was receiving from his friend.

''Yeah, these aren't real tears then, obviously. It's probably some scientific stuff or something. Still very realistic though. And I wasn't crying because I was sad or anything. Actually I don't know why I cried. I don't even feel bad, did before but not now. I feel great now….I-It might be…. It might be broken. Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Do you think it's broken?'' He babbled, a little nervously now.

It got a giggle out of Chell and the sound made Wheatley feel instantly better.

-0-

''You know what, it is all fine. You can just go and do whatever it is you little humans do. I'll just have a talk with… _your mother._ Alright?'' And with that she quickly closed the door, ignoring the look the human was giving her. GLaDOS relieved a little sigh before turning around.

Caroline glanced around the room with slightly squinted eyes because it was rather dark. She nearly bumped into the corner of a desk as well, which was pressed against the wall with one side. A computer screen and some neatly stacked papers filled the desk, but that was really all there was. Tiny stripes of sunlight crossed the walls where it managed to get around the curtains and the room smelled like it had just been through a rough chemical clean. With a little bit more light it would've looked like one of those advertisement photo's; neutral, geometrically and unlived-in. But Caroline knew that this was completely GLaDOS' style into the tiny details. ''You have a nice office.''

GLaDOS walked around her desk and sat down in her chair. ''Thank you.'' Though her expression barely changed, she did sound genuinely pleased with the compliment. ''You can sit down, if you want.''

Caroline carefully took a seat opposite of her. GLaDOS nervously poked at a pen in front of her that seemed to be too much out of place for her liking. When it laid perfectly like she wanted she finally looked up at Caroline. ''We haven't talked in a long time.''

She nodded in agreement. ''We haven't. It's really nice to see you again, GLaDOS. But it is in different circumstances than I expected to.''

GLaDOS smiled a little, something that happened rarely and only a few people had ever seen it. ''It's a complicated story.'' She quickly shot a look at the upper left corner. It didn't look like there was anything there, but she knew there was. No one seemed to be watching so she continued. ''This was supposed to just be another project. It had been lying around for a while. I officially wouldn't be involved but there wasn't a lot for me to do anyways since the… the last project. They thought it would be a good idea to get me to do something. I'm mostly just here for the paperwork.''

''They didn't _force_ you, did they?''

''No, they didn't.'' Her voice was calm and steady and seemed to care no emotion at all. But Caroline was worried, because she knew she was lying, all was it only to make her feel like everything was alright.

''And how about you? Do you have a job?''

''Not at the moment.'' Caroline admitted. ''I was looking for one but, well, all the hassle with Chell got me a little bit occupied.''

She was talking about that little lunatic of hers. GLaDOS couldn't be surprised. That look in the girl's eyes just screamed for trouble. She had noticed when she'd been trying to murder one of the students the other day. Not really like she cared, but it was in the rules that they shouldn't be attacking each other, so she hadn't had a choice but to drag the girl towards her office. She just hadn't expected for her to be Caroline's daughter. ''I can't believe I didn't recognize her before. I could have known.''

''It has been a while since you last met her. She has changed a lot since then.''

GLaDOS supposed that was true. The lunatic from now didn't look like anything she had been at a younger age. Well, now that she knew who she was she could identify the similarities. Back then she had already made multiple attempts to attack her as well. Sure, the girl had only been a few months old and didn't even know how to walk yet, but still. Apparently the attempted murder just run through her blood.

The mini version of the lunatic had been quite amusing though. She obviously enjoyed the movement of kicking (again another similarity between the older and younger version of the girl) and writhe around with her chubby little limbs. Of course the energy hadn't last long and the little fatty had been crying for a bottle of nutrition to suck on the minute she had stopped. And puking, she had done that too.

GLaDOS grimaced at the memory. But still it was something she'd never want to forget. Caroline had been happy back then and seeing her like that had made her day so much better as well.

''I just don't know what to do with her.'' Caroline sighed. ''She barely speaks. I thought it was just a thing she'd grow out of. But she never did. She also refuses to work along with speech therapists and she wasn't doing well at school and I just, I just don't know anymore. I've literally tried everything I could and you don't know how glad I was when she told me she had enjoyed her first time here. But then she came home with this story about who she had done something wrong again…. I just don't know what do.'' She rubbed at her tired eyes. She hadn't expect to open up like this the second she would see GLaDOS again, but apparently she needed it a little. It wasn't like she had anyone else to really tell it to and Chell obviously wasn't in a position to deal with her mother's worries. She had enough of her own.

GLaDOS listened to her. It wasn't like a little pat and a _there, there_ would help the situation. She didn't know a whole lot about motherhood, or children for that matter. (Again, it hadn't been her idea to go work at a school). But she could at least try to help Caroline out a little. ''What's the reason why she doesn't talk?''

''I have no idea. According to the doctors it's not caused by any physical damages or any forms of delay in her education of speech. They just wrote it off as some mental demarcation. I don't know why that would be the case, I see no reason for Chell to do that, consciously or not. Of course she grew up without a father and I raised her all on my own, but I don't think that's what caused it, would it? Or maybe it's just something I've done wrong… I have absolutely no idea.''

''Why don't you just ask her?''

Caroline laughed a little bit at that. Typically GLaDOS to see it all so objectively. ''I wish it was that easy, but I'm afraid it's not.''

She could already see it happening. Chell coming home from school one day and her randomly asking what was actually the cause of her inability to speak. The girl would give her mother one of her _looks,_ one with a mixture of amusement, confusion and slight suspicion. Then she would think about it for a few seconds before shrugging and continue whatever she had been doing before that. Caroline was sure that her daughter didn't even know the actual reason herself.

GLaDOS thought about it for a while. She didn't understand it completely as it wouldn't be logical for the girl to not be able to speak when there was nothing wrong. Well, there was something wrong with her, obviously, but she just couldn't lay her finger on what it was. Maybe brain damage. But the doctors would've have found out about that (not that doctors were that great to begin with) but they should've noticed if that were the cause. Of course there was also this _mental demarcation_ that Caroline had talked about. But that involved a lot of psychology and emotions, something GLaDOS wasn't that good at.

Despite that, she did notice Caroline's emotions. They were obviously sadness and frustration. Especially when she had mentioned her dead husband (someone she didn't know a whole lot about). Seeing that made her feel bad too, because she knew there was nothing she could do to help. At least, not a lot.

GLaDOS looked at the computer screen which displayed multiple different lines of information. Maybe there was one thing that she could do. It was not going to make much of a difference, but maybe she could help her out even just a little bit. She started typing and Caroline looked up curiously.

''What are you doing?'' She asked slightly confused.

''I'm deleting all the files that hold information about your daughter's violations.''

Caroline's eyes winded in surprise. ''What? Why? GLaDOS, you really don't have to do this.''

''I know.'' She answered dryly. ''But it's all fine. It's not like anyone is really going to miss these. Unless that other child's parents are going to file a denunciation, but that's my problem then. You can just go and focus on fixing your daughter's brain damage or whatever it is she has. Just don't worry about this.''

''Are you not going to get in trouble for this?''

GLaDOS paused for a short second. She was. But that didn't matter. ''It's all fine, Caroline.'' She repeated.

She sighed softly. ''Thank you, GLaDOS.''

''You don't have to thank me. Just keep on eye on that lunatic of yours. I see here that she got a 1 for a Spanish test. Apparently it was an oral test, I can see how that happened at least. But you should probably talk to her about it anyways, you know, just to make sure. I'll do the rest.''

Caroline smiled sweetly and couldn't help but to thank the principal once again, despite her telling her not too. She stood up to leave and GLaDOS followed to let her out the office. Caroline took the opportunity to give her friend a hug, who immediately stiffened upon the contact. She highly disliked being touched in any shape or form (only a handshake with someone who had at least cleaned their hands was close to acceptable). But despite her not returning the hug and keeping her arms close to her side, Caroline knew that she didn't mind too much as she relaxed even the tiniest bit in the embrace. ''It was nice to have seen you again GLaDOS.''

''It was.''

Caroline pulled back and gave her a sweet smile before exiting the office. ''Goodbye.''

''…Goodbye, Caroline''

GLaDOS quickly shot a look at the upper left corner again, where a small red light had started blinking.

* * *

 **Oooohhh snap. There's so much more going on in the background now. When I wrote the first version of the story I had just thought that this could be a short, nice little story where Chell and Wheatley would go through small little adventure things at a school. But then I added in GLaDOS as well (cuz I couldn't leave my favourite character out of the story) and then I couldn't help myself to let the story take a deeper and more meaningful turn. So here ya'll go. PLOTTWIST CHAPTER**

 **Anyways, I wanted to make it a little bit more realistic. Oh yeah cuz a school full of robot students is TOTALLY realistic….. you know what scrap that. I think I wanted Chell's situation more normal? Nah…. That ain't normal either. Like not at all. Never mind. You get what I mean. I just wanted to explain, in the second part of this chapter, more about Chell's situation and that of Caroline as well. And what better than to discuss it with our little Snowflake principal that Chell does not trust? My ideas are absolutely marvellous. (*cough* Completely not** **egocentric and/or meant sarcastically *cough*)**

 **(The name Snowflake is a nickname for GLaDOS me and my friend came up with one day. Just… don't question and don't judge)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A few days later**

Chell shot upright. Her eyes and nostrils were widened as she felt a rush of adrenaline shooting through her body. She quickly scanned the room and it took her longer than she expected for her to realize this was her bedroom. She relived a sigh before falling back into her pillow again. Chell hated nightmares, though she didn't have them too often. She couldn't quite remember what this one had been about, the small things she did remember were all blurry.

She turned over on her other side and closed her eyes once more. Maybe she could lay down for five more minutes.

''Chell, honey, are you getting up any time soon? You'll get late for school!''

Chell groaned as she buried her face deeper into her pillow. After a very brief moment of silence she dared to open one eye and look at the digital clock on her nightstand. Apparently those five minutes had turned into fifteen… But still, another little five minutes added to that wouldn't hurt anyone. Chell lazily stretched out over the whole mattress and yawned before she managed to push herself out of bed.

Stretching her stiff arms once more as she walked up to the window, she swiftly moved aside the curtains. The light blinded her and she jumped back a little like a vampire who was about to get burned by the sun. Once the coloured specks had been cleared from her vision, she walked towards her closet. She pulled out some clothes that still seemed decent and didn't smell too much and dressed up before making her way to the bathroom. A few quick brushes through her hair to get the tangles out and a small splash of water was enough for her and Chell quickly made her way down the stairs for breakfast.

When she passed the clock in the hallway though she noticed she was really running late. If she didn't leave now she would miss the bus. Chell snorted, lightly irritated. She hated to miss any opportunities for eating any sorts of food, but she really had to go. She could probably just get something from Wheatley anyways.

So she grabbed her already packed bag from the table and went out the front door. ''Bye, mom.'' She called out of habit and went down the steps.

She was quickly followed by Caroline who stopped in the doorway. ''Are you leaving already? You haven't eaten yet.''

Chell nearly tripped over her own feet as she halted. She turned around with a look of displeasure. Did they really need have this talk now? She was already late!

Her mother smiled sweetly and held up a small foil wrapped package. Chell walked back to the door and gratefully took the lunch packet. She wanted to leave again but Caroline held her back. A soft kiss was placed on the girl's forehead. ''Have fun at school. And just set your alarm clock a little bit earlier next time, alright?''

Chell rolled her eyes dramatically, even though she knew her mother was right. After the second kiss she quickly pulled away and ran off, waving goodbye. Maybe she could just make it in time. Caroline just laughed and waved back.

-0-

Chell bit down on the top of her pen as she read through the list of required components.

 _A Bunsen burner,  
a table-mat and  
a small tube of glass_.

She looked up at the objects on the table in front of her, making sure she had everything as needed. She pushed the plastic protection glasses which were way too big for her up on the bridge of her nose. She then reached out to tie her long ponytail into a messy bun so it wouldn't get caught in the fire, when all of a sudden the door of the classroom swung open. Wheatley walked through, panting and sweating.

''Hey, everybody…'' He said nervously as all eyes were now focused on him. ''I'm a bit late. I know. But there was a-''

Some people leaned over their tables to see Wheatley had tripped over a few bags and was now lying on the floor. He quickly got up again. He clumsy made his way around the schoolbags and walked up to Chell, trying to hide the slight blush of embarrassment on his face.

That quickly disappeared though when he saw her smile, silently laughing at his clumsiness. Feeling much better, he also grabbed one of the lab coats and put it on. It was way too big for his slim figure and the sleeves hung over his hands as he spread his arms and looked down at himself. ''Look at this. I look like a scientist. Basically a genius now, thank you very much.''

Chell rolled her eyes at his childishness and beckoned for him to come over. She then went to work to connect the burner to the gas-outlet while Wheatley examined the papers with the instructions.

''Alright. What for science-y things are we going to do today.'' He quietly murmured to himself as he looked over the questions on the paper. ''Glassblowing? Isn't that a bit dangerous?''

He yelped when Chell turned open the gas-let with a burning match above it and a yellow flame stoked up with a _whoosh_ sound. She looked back at him with a mild-amused look.

''Oh you just, just turned on the burner. Good job, really. Couldn't have done it better myself. I was just, you know, looking through our assignment, determining our main goal. Very scientific.''

She just offered him a patient smile before she took the paper out of his hands. She read over the instructions one more time before picking up the glass tube and holding it above the fire. The narrowing part of the tube quickly melted closed and she carefully put away the small bits of glass while heating up the other part. Wheatley watched over her shoulder, nearly biting off his nails to the skin in an anxious manner. He also kept nervously reminding her that this was a very bad idea and she would get her fingers burnt.

Chell just ignored his rant and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. When the glass started to become soft and dared to melt all the way, she quickly put the end of the tube to her mouth and blew hard. The glass started to inflate like a balloon until it hardened and became a little glass blob at the top of the tube.

Wheatley stared at it in amazement. ''How did you do that? It just popped up like that. That's incredible. Look at that it's all strong and stiff again, but you just blew it up a few moments ago like it was nothing. Mad. Science is a crazy thing, honestly. How does that even work?''

Chell giggled. She supposed it was kind of cool. At her other school they'd never did things like this. Then again, this place was pretty much invented by science nerds, if Wheatley's story was anything to go by. She picked up another one of the tubes and held it up to him.

''What? Am I supposed to do it now too?''

She nodded. Wheatley carefully took the tube from her and held it in such a gentle way like he was going to break it just by looking at it. He then eyeballed the burner which was once again turned into a rustling blue flame by Chell who turned over the air control vent. He swallowed hard.

''Y-you know. You are probably way better at this than me. A real professional you are. Should probably turn this into your future job. Why don't you do it for me and I just…. watch. How does that sound?'' He tried desperately while he poked her softly with the glass tube so she would take it from him.

But Chell shook her head and pointed at the Bunsen burner. He sighed dramatically. ''You know this is not going to end well, right? Not for anyone.''

She picked up the instruction paper and pointed at a picture of two hands who smoothly melted the end of the tube closed. ''That's what I have to do first?''

She nodded again.

They carefully followed the instructions one by one. It was going pretty well aside from a few high pitched squeaks from Wheatley every time his fingers got a bit too close to the flame. Eventually they got to the last step and Chell made a blowing motion.

''Alright so I just have to take it out and blow in it, is that correct? Okay. That's not too bad.'' When the tube slowly started to melt he quickly put his lips to the end of the tube and blew as hard as he could. But he was a little bit too late and the glass had already congealed. No matter how hard he tried, all he managed to get was a small little bump at the end of it.

''Oh. I-I don't think I did it right. Let me try again.'' He said quickly as he put the glass back into the fire. He was not paying enough attention to it due to his nervous ramblings and he accidentally hit the tube against the burner. It fell into three large pieces on the table. He reached out to gather the pieces back together with shaking hands and altogether forgot that those pieces of glass had just been held in fire a few moments ago. He yelped as he burnt his fingers on the hot material.

A few people looked up and Chell just shook her head. Wheatley rubbed the painful spots on his fingers in dismay, when suddenly Chell put her hands over his. He looked up at her and felt that he was starting to blush. But she didn't seem to notice and just gently pulled him with her out of the classroom.

''Hey, were are we going?'' Wheatley asked confused as they walked down the hall. ''The toilets? What are we going to do there?''

Chell didn't bother to answer as she none to gently pushed his burned fingers under the sink.

''AAAHH! Oh… that's actually much better.''

She smiled as she made sure he held his hand under the cold water for a good five minutes. Eventually she let go and wanted to go back to their class, but Wheatley stopped her.

''Wait. Chell there is… There is something I need to tell you. It's verily urgent and I thought, since we're here and no one else can hear us that now would be the perfect moment to do so.'' He quickly looked around to make sure they really were the only ones there. None of the toilet cubicles were locked so they seemed to be safe.

Chell turned around and looked at him in question.

''Well, you see I forget things sometimes. Everyone does, obviously. I think it's installed in us too, that we delete things over time that we think we don't need to remember. I forget an awful lot of things though, I'm honestly wondering if my program is just broken. And then they get mad at _me_ when I forget something, while they've done it wrong in the first place. But that's not the point I'm trying to make here, I'm going off topic now. But I started remembering things again a while ago. Not such important things, just small little things I thought I had forgotten about. For example just a pen, didn't know where I put it. Oh I remembered; I left it on the desk. Quite useful actually, now that I think about it. But the point is, I did remember one thing once. It seemed important, it's a little bit vague. I-It's about Gladys.''

Now she was really intrigued. She looked at Wheatley a little worried as he continued his story.

''I don't know why I'm remembering her. Actually I don't remember anything about her it's just that when I got ready this morning, you know just get my things and go to school, I might have accidentally overheard a conversation. I don't really know what it was about but the scientists said something about someone named GLaDOS. Well I have heard that name before, I'm quite sure, but I didn't know it meant anything important. But since you told me that your mother had called the principal GLaDOS instead of Gladys, I was starting to wonder. Maybe she has something to do with Aperture as well.''

Chell thought about this for a moment. It would only make sense for Aperture to choose someone from their own company to work as the principal at their school-project. Gladys didn't really seem like a person that belonged in a science facility, though she did altogether. But she didn't see why this was such a big problem.

''The thing is, I've heard about this GLaDOS person a lot from the others. They say she's a really important person for some reason. That she's the first AI they ever built at Aperture and that she would be in control of the whole facility, but that she no longer does. I don't know why. No one really likes to talk about it. But I think that if our Gladys, the school's principal, is actually GLaDOS from Aperture…'' He explained.

''Doesn't that mean that she's an AI as well?''

-0-

Chell looked up at the sky. The sun shone it's harsh light down on the world below it and it was so bright that she had to squint her eyes. She watched as the other students got out of the school in a big herd of people. They went on to grab their bikes or wait for the bus to take them back home.

Everyone was excited for the weekend. But she was not. Not at all.

Chell looked back at the building behind her. The once white panels that made up the walls were becoming grey and were covered with dark patches caused by some strong weather. But that was not what grabbed the silent student's attention. There was one window, closer to the side of the school, that was completely covered by curtains. As it always was.

It was the principal's office. Chell felt something heavy build up inside of her. Like someone had put a giant stone in her stomach which was now weighing her down.

After her conversation with Wheatley during their chemistry class, she had started to feel this… this sudden weight on top of her. She had hoped some fresh air and the prospect of the upcoming weekend would relief somewhat of that tenseness. But it didn't help. And it was starting to become unbearable. It was like she had just found some very precious pieces of a puzzle. But she just didn't know where to put them.

The thing was; she knew that Gladys had the answers to her questions.

A cold breeze cut through her jacket and made her shiver. They were slowly nearing the end of the season and the weather was starting to show it.

Chell sighed. She really didn't want to do this. But she needed to find some answers, complete this part of the puzzle. It wasn't like she could just go home like the rest of her classmates, she would only think about it too much. She didn't have much of a choice. She had to confront Gladys.

So with the biggest feeling of resistance inside of her, Chell walked back into the school. The hallways were completely empty, everyone had left the building as fast as they could to go and celebrate the weekend.

 _And now no one will be able to hear you scream if something goes wrong._ Chell quickly pushed that random and slightly frightening thought aside and continued on her way.

Eventually she came to stand in front of the office. She could feel the blood being pumped through every vein and a loud buzzing filled her ears. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

''Come in.'' Gladys answered from the other side.

So Chell opened the door and walked into the lion's den.

Gladys was busy with some paperwork when she had heard the knock on her door. She looked up to ask in a fit of frustration why anyone was still bothering her during this time of the day, so she was quite surprised at the sight of the student standing in the doorway. Chell shivered as the door closed behind her with a soft _click._

''Oh, it's you again.''

Chell noticed she was holding her breath and she tried to let some of the air out with a soft sigh. Her heart was beating so loudly against her ribs she was afraid that Gladys could hear it too.

But the principal didn't say anything about it and just gestured towards the empty chair in front of the desk. ''Have a seat.''

Chell obeyed and slit down into the uncomfortable chair. She carefully dropped her bag to the floor and then forced herself to look the principal right in the eye, even though it felt like her insides would turn into ice by that powerful stare.

''I'm honestly surprised to see you. Are you here to file another one of your _activities?_ I'd be happy to add them to the list.'' Gladys said, a smile with no warmth forming onto her lips.

Chell gave her a frustrated glare. She really wasn't in the mood for her games.

''Don't look at me like that. We both know that it was a logical conclusion for me to make, giving to what happened last time. You should really thank me, by the way, I really helped you in that regard. Not that would you know. You don't even care, do you?''

Chell wanted to point out that _she_ had been the one to get her into trouble by wanting to go have a talk with Caroline instead of just letting it all pass to begin with. But she decided it might be smarter to just keep her mouth shut.

''But since all of that doesn't seem to be the case.'' Gladys said. ''Why are you here?''

She wanted to say something, but her voice refused to work with her and just completely seemed to abandon the change of answering. She couldn't even get one simple word out. Not wanting to look like a total idiot in front of the principal so she could get another reason to tease her, Chell reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook. She couldn't find her pen as it had probably sunk to the very bottom of her bag, she then noticed a pretty expensive looking silver pen on the desk, so she just picked up that one.

Gladys didn't seem to like that, but she kept quiet and waited for the girl to finish what she was writing.

Eventually Chell pushed the note towards her. Gladys picked it up.

 _I have a few questions. I just want to talk._

''Alright. What do you want to talk about?''

Chell quickly went to write a reply. For all she had been making fun of her before, Gladys was surprisingly patient to wait for her to finish.

''You know, this would be a lot easier if you would just communicate through sound. It's called _talking_. Maybe you should give it a try.'' Never mind the part about her being patient, Chell thought to herself. ''Let's start with something simple. Try _mute._ Can you say mute? No... How about _lunatic?_ I know it's three syllables long, but I'm sure you can do it. Come on, speak.''

''J-just-t-tt read t...he p-p-p-pap...pa...paper.''

''There you go. Now, was that so hard?''

Chell glared at her and nudged once again towards the note for her to read it. Gladys just smiled in triumph for managing to get the girl to talk. Chell was sure the memory of that was going to irritate her for the rest of the week.

 _Where do you know my mother from?_

Gladys looked down at the question, feeling a bit uncomfortable. ''Why do you want to know?''

Chell simply shrugged. _Just curious._

''We... both worked at the same company. There we met each other when we were working on the same project. We just started talking and... Well I think you get the rest.''

 _My mother worked at this school?_

''Of course not. This place is only two years old. It happened long before this was build.''

 _How long ago?_

''Just... a long time.'' Gladys answered vaguely. She was not liking the curious stubbornness of the lunatic and it was starting to make her feel a bit anxious. ''Why is that even important?''

 _How many years?_ Chell pressed.

''I don't know. I'd say about 20 years maybe.''

 _Then you would have been a little kid._

''I... I guess so, yes.''

Chell thought about all of that for a moment. She did seem to be telling the truth, or rather a bended version of the truth. A few things just didn't seem quite right. If it had indeed been 20 years ago when Gladys and Chell's mother first met, she should have been around the age of five. Because now she didn't look much older than twenty-five. What was so weird about this was that she said she and Caroline _worked_ at the same place. Chell was verily sure a five year old couldn't have a job.

Unless if she had been indeed very young, but that she'd just never been a child. And the only way for that to be possible were if she wasn't human.

Though Chell was pretty convinced by her own theory so far, it was just a theory. She needed more information.

 _What kind of work did you do?_

''I think we have talked enough about this subject.'' Gladys quickly answered, not wanting to go further with this, what almost looked like a police interrogation. ''Nice to have spoken with you again. Now go home. I have a lot of work to do.''

But Chell wasn't planning on going anywhere. She leaned back in the chair, her arms crossed stubbornly. ''No.'' She snapped back matter-of-factly.

Gladys glared and Chell just stared back with a challenging look. She was not liking the attitude of the Lunatic, but there wasn't a lot she could do about it. She was not going to leave until she got what she want, so all she could do was give her just that. ''Fine. You can ask me three more questions. Just three. Not four or five, but three. Not more. And after that you leave. Is that understood?''

Chell gave a single nod in agreement. Now she had to be careful and play her cards wisely. She had only three more changes to prove to herself if her theory was correct. She was quite sure though that Gladys was not going to make it easy for her. She thought about her next question and wrote it down.

 _Is your real name Gladys?_

She seemed confused by that particular question. ''Obviously. Why wouldn't it be?''

Chell bit the inside of her lip. With her answering so shortly and vaguely, she was going to run out of changes for her questions soon. And she was starting to lie now as well. This might be a bit more tricky than she had hoped for. Chell wrote down her second question and tapped anxiously with the pen in a repetitive drum.

 _Have you heard of Aperture Science?_

''I have, in fact, it's the company that build this school after all. I think the name of this place should've signified that.''

That was actually pretty logical indeed. She had hoped for an answer that would have indicated that Gladys worked for Aperture. Maybe a better question had been if she'd asked straight away, instead of trying to get something out of the principal's answers which could proof something. But Chell was pretty sure she'd still answer them in such a way that there would've come nothing useful out of it.

She should've been more careful with her questions, Chell thought as she glanced down at her notebook. Reading over her own questions one more time, she noticed her handwriting became more slovenly with every question. She was getting frustrated. That's what caused her to lose and Gladys had realised that all along. She was now just waiting for the student to ask the last thing which she would avoid too and then they could forget this had ever happened.

She had one question left and there was no way she could squeeze in a few more if she tried. Gladys wanted her out of there. She had to make this one count. Then still, she was never going to get enough out of this last one to be able to solve her little mind puzzle.

Except... If she would just ask it. No ways around it, not trying to prove _theories_ that couldn't be solved. No more secret stuff. Just ask it. With slight doubt and a trembling hand, Chell put the pen onto the paper and wrote out her final question.

 _Are you human?_

Gladys stared down at it for the longest time. She then looked back up at Chell. ''How did you-'' she stopped herself midsentence. She went her eyes from the girl sitting in front of her, folding the paper in her firmly closed hands.

Chell waited. Now she had to answer her question, she had to! Though the answer was already obvious according to the sudden silence from the principal. But Chell just needed her to say it, to confirm it. She needed to hear the truth with her own ears.

''Leave.'' Gladys finally said. ''Just go and leave me alone.''

She didn't move.

''Don't test my patience now, Lunatic. I'm being serious. Get out.''

''But-''

''I SAID GET OUT''

Chell got up and left as fast as she possibly could. It sounded like she was going to strangle her if she stayed a second longer. She ran out of the office, around the corner and into a different corridor. But she didn't stop there. She went out the building and off the school's square. Chell felt she was starting to sweat and her schoolbag suddenly seemed so much heavier. But she ignored it all. She just wanted to get away from this place as far until her legs couldn't carry her anymore.

She passed the small park with the pond, crossed the cycle track and through the thick bushes that grew alongside the road. Behind that stood a few cheap houses which were mostly build for and inhabited by old people as almost no one else wanted to live next to a high school filled with teenagers.

 _And robots._ Chell thought bitterly. But she didn't want think about that. She didn't want to think about anything. She just wanted to go. So she just kept running as she didn't know what else to do in her moment of blind panic. She entered one of the narrow alleys behind the buildings which ended to a high wooden fence which probably surrounded someone's garden. That's where she finally stopped.

She pressed her back against a cold brick wall and the contact made all the little hairs on her bare skin stand upright. She rested her head there as well, trying to catch a breath. Her heart beat hard against her chest. The sound of it made her head hurt. Was she really having a panic attack right now? It felt like it. Chell tried to breath calmly, but it just came out as short, shaking exhales. She gritted her teeth against the headache and glanced upwards. The sky was a blue blanket wrapped around the earth, there were no clouds and the bright sun pricked in her eyes.

 _She 's a robot. The principal is a robot. Wheatley was right. Our school principal is a robot!_

She went her eyes from the light and a few tears had found their way out. Chell dropped her unbelievably heavy bag and slit down the wall, it's rough surface scratching the exposed skin on her arms and through her shirt, until she sat in a crouch on the ground. She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms so no one could see her cry. Her hold back whimpers and shaky inhales echoed through the alley, but it got drowned out by the few cars that drove on the road further away so no one could've noticed her sitting there.

She jumped when something soft and furry stroked the back of her hand. When she looked up she saw a grey with black striped cat walking past her. It stared back at her, blinked and then stroke it's head along her legs. In a need for contact, Chell reached out to pet it. The cat seemed to enjoy the little scratches on top of its head and it purred contently. It made her feel a bit better and it let her forget what happened for a few seconds. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she quickly wiped away her dried up tears. She had to go home soon and she didn't want anyone to know she just cried.

It was just too much. She didn't want all of this. She knew, that somewhere in the back of her mind, she had hoped that all of this hadn't been true. That she didn't have to deal with this and could just go to that weird-A.I.-filled-school like the rest. But with all the knowledge she had now, she couldn't just ignore the situation. There was something seriously wrong with that school and this so called Aperture scientific-bullshit place. Something had to be done.

With tired muscles and an exhausted brain, Chell got up from the ground. Her butt felt cold and stiff from the hard concrete tiles. The cat looked up at her and gave her a few more strokes before it jumped onto the wooden fence, balancing like an expert gymnast on the narrow space before jumping off gracefully on the other side. Chell thanked it in her head for cheering her up a little bit before picking her bag up again and making her way back to the nearest bus station. All the while avoiding to have to see the school's building as much as she could. Though she couldn't help but glance out of the corner of her eye towards the window with the closed curtains.

Something had to be done.


End file.
